Concentrator.



vNo. 650,138. l Patented May 22, |900.

' C., A. SMITH.

CONCENTBATOR.

(Application l'ed Apr. 24, 189.9.)

" NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. SMITH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CONCENTRATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters 4Patent No. 650,138, dated lMay2.2, 1900.

Application inea Apri1z4, 1899.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES A. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ooncentrators,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in concentrators specially designedfor treating pulp and placer material containing theprecious metals in afree state.

The object of my invention is to'provide a machine which will embodysimple means to sqoarate the ore-` or precious metals from the gangue. laccomplish this object by the mechanism described herein and illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation ofmy concentrator with the side timbers of the front side of the frame andfront side of the concentrating-trough removed for clcarnessofillustration. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is an end View of thelower or discharge end of the concentrator. y

A is the frame, in which is mounted the swinging concentrating trough B.This trough is widest at the upper end or head and gradually decreasesin width to the discharge end or tail. The sides B should be ofsufficient -height to carry the pulp to the discharge. The water passingthrough the trough gradually increases in depth, thereby facilitatingthe separation of the heavier portions from the lighter. The bottom ofthe trough rests on cross-bars B", (one at the head and one at thetail,) which strengthen the trough and provide means for attaching thetrough to the frame by means of the clevises a, eye-rods b, and bolts c.This connection of the trough to the frame permits the trough to swingboth longitudinally and laterally at the same time. For an ordinarymediumsized machine for working pulp the concentrating-trough shouldpreferably have the following dimensions: length, sixteen feet; width atthe head, two feet; at the tail, three inches; height of sides at thehead, two inches; at the point where the concentrates are discharged,thirteen inches. These dimensions may be varied Without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, which consists 1n a concentrating-troughgradually contracting in ypure gangue.

Serial No. 714,330. (No model.)

width from the head to the point of discharge of the concentrates andhaving sides of sufcient height to retain therein Jfrom the head to thetail the material passing therethrough, provided with the novel meansshown of sepameans for attaching the separating-plates C and D, whichare adj ustably mounted therein. The edges of thehorizontal part engagethe sides of the trough B. The dividingplate C separates the pureconcentrates from the semiconcentrates, and the dividing-plate Dseparates the semiconcentrates from the These plates may be adjustedindependently of each other by means of the screws E and F, havinghand-wheels E and F'. The lower or vertical part of the plate C projectsthrough slots H in the sides B of the trough. To these projecting edgesis attached a yoke I, which passes over the top of the trough B. In thetop of the yoke I is a screwthreaded hole, through which passes thescrew F, having a working lit therein. The screw F has a screw-threadedhole extending longitudinally therethrough. The lower or vertical partof the plate D projects through slots J. To these projecting edges isattached a yoke K, which passes over the top of the trough B. The yoke Kis rotatively attached to the screw E just below the hand-wheel E. Thescrew E works in the threaded hole in the screw F. The screw E restsupon a cross-bar L, which passes across and is attached to the trough B.This separate adjustment of the plates C and D is particularly desirablein a concentratingmachine, as the quantity of concentrates varies withthe different ores. By having two plates in the tail of the trough B thelower plate C may be set so that nothing but pure concentrates will passthereunder, and the plate D may be set so that pure gangue only willpass over the same, while between the plates C and D will pass materialcomposed partly of concentrates and partly of gangue, which I havetermed semiconcentrates The object in separating the material into IOO `adjustable disks s s' s". Thesedisks have three parts is that by sodoing it is not nec? essary to beso careful in separating ythev ganguefrom the concentrates, as the semiconcentrates may be run through themachine a second time, while to run the whole body of gangue andseni-iconcentrates a second or third time is often impracticable. In mymachine almost all the worthless gangue is gotten rid of at the firsthandlingand only that part which is in the semiconcent-rates needs to berehandled.

Mountedon shaft-R are three eccentricallyan eccentric adj ustmenton'thesha'i"t-R,`WhereV by the motion of the trough B may be chan ged"atwilland adilferent'rate of lateral motion given v-to the tail fromthat given to the head,

y `ifA desired.` `The'disk S is connected to the vss rodbystrap T'. RodT is pivotally connecte'dfto one end of the bell-crank lever U,

which is pivotally attached to the frame A.

Theo'ther end of the lever U isv attached to that tlie trough may haveboth longitudinal and' lateral movement at the same time. Disk S isconnected to the rod V by strap V. RodV is pivotally connected to lug W,which is axed to the bottom of trough B near the center thereof. Disk S"is connected to rod Y by Astrap Y. Rod Y is pivotally connected to oneend of the bell-crank lever X, whichiis pivotally attached to the frameA. The other` end' of the lever X is pivotally attached tothe troughBnear the head thereof in order that the trough may have bothlongitudinal andv lateral movement at the same time.

J Mym'achine is operated as follows: Motion is* imparted'to the shaft Rthrough the main pulleyP, and'the'material to be operated upon isfd intothe head of the trough B in any suitablemanner andin suoli quantities asthe nature ofA the material requires;

` Bis given such a pitch from the head to the tailzasfmay be .founddesirable with the par-v ticular materiall being treated by raising'orlowering either end of the frame, (preferably The trough Witnesses:the'tailendis raised or lowered,) experience showing that no'twomaterials requirethe same pitch of the concentrating-trough. Ipreferably give the tail end of the trough B a greater lateral motionthan the head, as the settling of the concentrates upon the bottoni ofthe trough is facilitated thereby. This is d onehbyadjusting thedisk Son the shaft R,

so that it has a'longer stroke than the disk S. As the material passesthrough the trough it -increases in depth. At 'the tail it is separatedVby the plates C and D into pure concentrates, semiconcentrates, andpure gangue,which are `carriediaway from the machine by the chutes `M,N, and O. f

nThemotionimparted to the trough by the eccentrics and bell-cranks issimilar to that "of hand-panning and greatly facilitates the settling ofthe concentrates or preciousimet- .als to the bottom of the troughalongwhich ythey pass to the tail.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is theftrough near' the tail thereof in order Theherein-described concentratorcomprising trough B gradually decreasingvin width from the head to the tail, having sides B gradually increasingin Width from the head to the tail; ad justable.separating-plateC forseparating the concentrates from lthe semi-` concentrates; adjust-ableseparating-plate D for separating the gangue from the semiconlcentrates;yoke Y attached to plate O and- ;having threaded socket for thereception and 1 working of screw F; screw F'adapted to work inscrew-threaded socket in yoke I and'having hand-Wheel F; yoke K attachedto plate D; screw E rotatively attached to yoke K and adapted to work inthe screw-threaded opening in screw F and having hand-wheel-E' ,andchutes M, N and O for carrying awayrespec- I tively the concentrates,semiconcentrates and gan gue.

In witness that'I claim the foregoingI havek hereuntosubscribed myna1ne, thisl3th day fof April, 1899, at Los Angeles, California;

CHARLES' A. SMITH;

G. E. HARPHAM, HENRY T. HAZARD.

